Prex J.D.V. Ybasco's Blog, page 36
September 3, 2016
Blog Feature: The Backpack Adventures
Howdy, I’m Neil Nicerio. I’m a teacher, photographer, and a travel blogger.
You can check out my blog at nicerioadventures.blogspot.com (The Backpack Adventures)
What does your blog offer?
My blog used to be a variation of a personal travel diary. However, through time it evolved into an educational type of travel blog where one can find out about the history of a place and the rates and itineraries too.
Click to view slideshow.
2.What inspired you to put up a blog?
I love travelling and taking photos of landscapes and architecture. From that passion and my “acquired” love of words… my blog was “conceived”.
3. How often do you post updates?
During my first year, I “require” myself to post at least 10-15 articles but now I limit it to once a week.
4. Do you accept author contributions in your blog?
I don’t accept author contributions in my blog but I have a corner where I promote my peers blogs and websites
5. What awards/ recognition have you received through the blog?
So far, I haven’t received any awards and recognition for my blog but I have been invited to some media tours and promotional tours. I also got to write for travel mags.
6. Do you have any tips for those who want to put up a travel blog?
Travel, take plenty of photos, then write.
Neil Alvin E. Nicerio
Travel Blogger – Educator
nicerioadventures.blogspot.com
Neil has already covered quite a number of places in the Philippines and Japan.
You can find Neil’s articles featured in TravelPlus.Ph here:
Kansai in a Week [http://travelplus.ph/2016/07/06/kansa...]
The Raw Beauty of Palui Island [http://travelplus.ph/2016/06/25/the-r...]
Visit his blog or tweet him @NeilNicerio
The story of Mr A, rabid ultraist doctor
Once upon a time, a girl envied Mr A , rabid ultraist doctor of a far away kingdom. It was not his kingdom at all but he ruled over it just the same. On top of that, he was really popular. People loved him, Kings and Queens adored him. Or did they?
Being an ultraist, he was very strict, imposing rules here and there, parading his achievements to the surrounding awe-stricken -or scared- citizens and embellishing his stories with colorful descriptions of how great a person he was. He even had peers, people who bore resemblance to him, those who valued themselves higher than anybody and thought others could not reach their unattainable standards.
There were a number of times he showed his dark side to the kingdom. He insulted a farmer’s boy down to his boot. He asked a duke’s son to give him a ride to the castle. Even the butcher’s girl wasn’t able to do anything but kept quite as Mr A called her all the words synonymous to stupid.
Yet people still flattered him. Kings and Queens praised and knighted him. Or did they? Because every time he turned the other way, the citizens wore a different mask, not the smiling ones Mr A got accustomed to seeing, but the ones full of loathing and sneering. They called him names, cringe worthy words that could probably curl your already curly hair. They also cursed him, imagined the most appropriate and gruesome death possible.
One day, our unusual protagonist got greedy for more admiration, to prove that he alone was the best. He went on an expedition to slay a King Dragon, without informing his kingdom. Cunning and hypocrite, Mr A, rabid ultraist, dealt with two other dragons to kill King Dragon. However, it proved to be a horrible mistake. Dragons did not like to negotiate with a mere mortal much less to kill their beloved King so they had a fiery council with Mr A, and he found himself in hot– boiling, even–waters for he hadn’t expected the dragons to go against him. Surely there had been a mistake! He was popular after all, and didn’t everybody love him?
And like the mortals that they were, upon hearing Mr A ‘s debacle, citizens from that kingdom started talking, gossiping about Mr A, and all the bad things, truth or fiction, stories that they had dared not talk about when he had been in their midst. People seemed to have forgotten the good things he had done, too. (whispers, whispers) Had he done anything good in the first place? However, these good deeds were shrouded by the bad ones and people asked each other how they had endured his presence in all those years!
Kings and Queens tried to recall Mr A’s contribution to their kingdom, or did they? They learned about his perils but they turned and talked about more important things like the next expedition, another candidate for knighthood, and extremely political things that there was a crying need for. They just did not have time for anybody, no matter how special like Mr A, rabid ultraist doctor!
Certainly, one of those who had used to hang out with him would defend him? No. Since he was gone, imprisoned in the tragedy he had set up for himself, his peers lived their lives seemingly forgetting he had been part of the group at all. They continued looking down on others, Mr A, included, and they laughed at him, laughed at his stupidity. They took his cries for help for granted and even said it served him right.
Mr A found himself alone, infamous.
Mr A, rabid ultraist, didn’t die but he might as well have had for he had lived not knowing he was not loved at all and the worst thing was, as he choked and gasped in the boiling pot he was imprisoned in, he didn’t realize why a special, and ultimately famous person like him could be so unloved. Or he did but he just didn’t care.
Once upon a time, a girl envied Mr A , rabid ultraist of a far away kingdom. Now she realized how wrong she was to have envied him.
September 2, 2016
August 31, 2016
From the Desk of the President
Dear Students, Educators, Readers, and Writers,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the new format of “The Ybasco University,” from now on, Viter-Ybasco University, a reflection of the signatory’s ideals in the field of learning. The university which started as a response to an oppressive regime of a nasty dean (may God bless him wherever he is) is now gone. The undersigned does not intend to put superficial limits on Learning equals freedom -the tag this makeshift institution is all about. Truth be told, it has been years since yours truly got over what she considers the Dark Ages for the academe.
From its friendly and colorful theme to its monochromatic tones, the university is about to embark on a journey to the more serious, and professional side of learning. Yes, learning is fun but it also entails much responsibility.
From here on, the blog will be devoted to Languages, Literacy and Literature, three things the signatory values as an educator and a writer.
The course schedule is as follows:
The schedule the undersigned has made for the site is a framework of her plans for the university, a requirement she hopes to fulfill. Challenges of laziness, work and boredom she may encounter along the way and she most certainly cannot promise anybody she will not succumb to them but will do her very best to always bounce back and write. If there is one thing she has learned in the years she has been writing, it is to trust her talent in stringing words together but not the speed she does it. Thus, a schedule like so may help the President to post updates more frequently if not regularly.
VYU accepts submissions for Blog Feature, Author Feature, Student and Teacher of the Week and you will find all the information you need here.
Most respectfully yours,
August 27, 2016
160827
Realized @jk_rowling is like Voldemort with 7+ horcruxes and Potterheads are Harry. She has put a bit of her soul into us through her books.
August 24, 2016
Conquered N5 ^_^
神様ありがとうございます。
これから日本語を勉強して頑張ります。
August 23, 2016
Review: BFG (Movie)
Rated G
Presidential rating: 3.4/5
Break down
Script: 5
Plot: 3
Actors: 4
Special Effects: 5
The BFG is movie that a family can enjoy but not to the fullest- as a grandma behind my seat in the theater audibly whispered, some scenes are too dragging for grownups, and maybe for the youngsters exposed to explosions here and there. There are a number of funny lines that linguists will probably enjoy but for an average movie goer who is after entertainment and action, this I am afraid, may not reach your standards, particularly if you are not somewhere from 10-15 years old.
Since I hadn’t read the book (The BFG, here) before seeing the movie, I was not able to fully grasp what BFG’s job was. Was he like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman? If he was, it could have been established better by giving -blowing is more like it-the dreams, say in a street before focusing on one family. Then again, I am no Roald Dahl nor Steven Spielberg.
The movie has focused on the relationship of Sophie and BFG which I consider very adorable but nonetheless cliche as there have been many stories about children befriending monsters, animals [Cinderella], extraterrestrials [E.T.] and even giants [hello, a posteriori text characters, Harry Potter and Hagrid].
Yes, the BFG’s first scenes are amazing-how he is able to camouflage himself and run for miles, the earth shaking with each step. And of course, seeing the queen of England and her minions farting has been a treat because I would not be given a chance to see it again. However, there was a child in me looking forward to how Sophie and BFG would eventually vanquish the giants but I ended getting so disappointed. Kudos to UK’s army anyway.
I approve of the ending though. I don’t believe that children’s stories should always be full of happy ever afters but The BFG has hope in it– Sophie looking out the window and whispering ‘Good morning BFG’ and the giant hearing her from a distance, which puts a smile on his wrinkled face.
August 16, 2016
Review: Pilot Birdie Mechanical Pencil
Warning: Not for those who are appalled by traditional writing systems and certainly note for those who believe a stylus and a huge phone can save the world lots of trees.
I want to honor this tiny little guy right here, Pilot Birdie, in a post. It has been my constant companion since ideas raced each other in my head and abusing my phone’s keypad and note wouldn’t do.
Because of its sleek design, I could easily keep it in my pocket. Pretty handy for quick notes. The metal finish also gives an assurance of durability to which I can attest- I have dropped this mechanical pencil for several times but the leads are still intact.*
It looks chic for its price and many have already asked me whether it is an actual pen or if I could write well using it considering its size–it serves the purpose.
*You might want to try dropping it too for future reference and scientific purposes.
**not a sponsored post… merely reviewing small items before launching big posts
August 13, 2016
On Book Bloggers Who Don’t Recognize That They Are Self-Published Authors Too
Book Bloggers, Read this before you turn down self-published novels. ^-^
Every now and then, I come across a post in which a book blogger explains why they do not review self-published novels. They are entitled to limit their reading material in any way they choose, and I can’t deny that there are reasons to avoid some self-published books.
However, I find it hypocritical when book bloggers have a categorical rule against reading self-published books. Don’t they realize that they are also self-published authors? As one traditionally published author and book reviewer said, books bloggers are “leeches” for whom “the Net has given … a bog to wiggle around in.” That traditionally published book snob bemoaned the proliferation of self-published book blogs, saying that attempting to read a review on one is “identical to seeking relationship advice on the wall of a public restroom.”
If self-published book reviews are so bad, then of course those of us looking for our…
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